1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to endovascular devices and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for providing radial support thereto.
2. Description of Related Art
Over the past five years, there has been a great deal of research directed at developing less invasive, percutaneous, e.g., catheter directed, techniques for various medical treatments. This has been facilitated by the development of vascular stents, which can and have been used in conjunction with standard or thin-wall graft material in order to create a stent-graft or endograft. The potential advantages of less invasive treatments have included reduced surgical morbidity and mortality along with shorter hospital and intensive care unit stays.
While the percutaneous placement of endografts represent a significant improvement over conventional surgical techniques, there is a need to improve the endoprostheses, their method of use, and their applicability to varied biological conditions.
A need also exists to improve over current fabrication methods as they relate to ease of use and speed of assembly, to eliminate or reduce corrosion caused by metallic stents, to provide sufficient radial support in combination with prosthesis flexibility while reducing the potential for kinking, and to provide a prosthesis having a graft that is easily crimped and placed into a delivery system.